You Know You're A Teacher When...

I love, love reading teaching blogs. Max calls my job my hobby for a reason, I guess ; ) Anyway, The Inspired Apple is my new favorite, and I'm linking up for: You Know You're A First Grade Teacher When...

*You do art projects almost every single day.

*You have conversations like this:

Student: Mrs. Klein, do you have any small children at home?

Me: No, just a fish.

Student: But you're married to Dr. Klein.

Me: Yes.

Student (clearly confused): You see, this is how it works. You get married, then some months later you get a newborn baby.

Me: Ummmm....

*Birthdays involve crowns and cupcakes (as they always should).

*You're 5'4'' and you feel like a giant because the classroom chairs are just that small.

*It's normal to field comments about Great Uncle Bob or trips to California while trying to teach math.

*You get "visits" from the gingerbread man and the leprechaun.

*While trying to lead the class in scraping off frosting on Oreos to represent phases of the moon, you run into problems because so many of them are missing their front teeth.

*You get complimented everyday for being "pretty" ; )

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WILW!!

I'm loving french press coffee. Normally, I'm way too rushed on weekdays to make and enjoy it, but it's Spring Break week here (yayee!) and even though I'm spending it catching up on life (and laundry, and cleaning etc.) it's soooo nice to have that time : )

I'm loving our new iPad 2! Apple.com still shows a 3-4 week wait for them, but my husband being the problem solver that he is shopped around different stores in the area last week and picked up the very last one at a Phoenix Best Buy. He already has it rigged up with our lighting and sound so we're using it to turn the lights and speakers on and off, kind of like a really big remote control that we can also watch movies on ; )

I'm loving these little guys: baby Dr. Peppers. Regular ones are just too much soda for me, and besides, I enjoy feeling like a giant when I drink them:

I'm loving that tonight we'll find out who is the Top Chef All-Star!! I'm hoping it's Richard Blais, the chef who uses cool things like liquid nitrogen and MRE bags. He reminds me a bit of my husband, as I can see Max whipping out stuff like that if he were a chef ; )

Finally, I'm loving that I get to pay my hubby a work-day visit today : ) Happy Wednesday!

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Nifty Nails

One of my teacher friends introduced me to Sally Hansen nail stickers:

They're made from real nail polish but the tops are already dried so there's no waiting around after to prevent smudged nails (love that!). The best part is the fun prints they come in - my firsties got a kick out of them! They're a bit tricky to apply and I think I could definitely use more practice, perhaps on these leopard ones...

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Happy Friday!

Technically it's still winter, however you'd never know with our weather right now:

Things I'm looking forward to today:

1. Not sitting in glue. That's right, I sat in glue yesterday. Wet glue. Sigh. The good: It was towards the end of the day. The bad: The glue was wet. The ugly: There were cut up toothpicks in the glue (representing the spikes on the saguaro cactus) so those stuck to my bum too : (

2. Getting my second new Starbucks cup. I was a bit wary of my first:

I don't like change but I'm trying to embrace it.

3. Picking up my hubby at PHX! I like to park and go in so I can be right at the International gate when he walks through. Cheesy, I know : )

Happy Weekend!

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Countdown to the Royal Wedding

Prince William and Kate Middleton will wed next month on April 29th!

I know, I'm a bit obsessed. Princes and soon-to-be princesses are just so - you know, royal. I'm counting down like I'm actually attending when really I'll be here in Scottsdale with my alarm set for 3am. Fun fact: London is 7 hours ahead of Scottsdale right now, but with daylight savings coming up this month in England, we'll have an 8 hour difference again soon (I only know this because my husband travels there so often). Another fun fact: daylight savings in the U.K. is called "summer time" - cute, huh? And since the wedding day has not been declared a national holiday here in the states (boo!) I'm thinking I'll need to drive through Starbucks on the big day before taking on my 27 firsties. The trenta size should do it:

It's rumored that Miss Middleton will be wearing Alexander McQueen (now headed by Sarah Burton). I love that Kate's designer is a secret, but I wonder if she's really going to go in such an eclectic direction. Apparently she liked the McQueen bridal design worn by a distant royal relative:

Kate seems a bit too conservative and classic for this type of dress, but either way, I can't wait to see what she chose!

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WILW!

I'm loving that I found pink gerber daisies with lime green middles at the grocery store the other day. They're my favorite!

I'm loving that I happened upon this old favorite at Trader Joe's:

It's this delicious cilantro dressing that's super creamy and bright. I used to buy it when I was in college all the time but I haven't seen it in years. I think the nutrition content must be wrong though because it tastes way too yummy to be reduced fat ; )

I'm loving the soon-to-be princess. I'm slightly obsessed with the pheasant headpiece she wore to christen that Royal Navy lifeboat last week:

Apparently it's called a fascinator - it's the beret's fancy cousin ; ) She's the cutest!

Finally, I'm loving that my husband and I will be back on the same continent this weekend! Yipee!

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Back Again!

So I was unloading groceries in the kitchen after school today and noticed a shadow moving through our den window. Who was it? Oh, just our friends the bobcats. The first photo I caught was with my iPhone:

Then I ran to get my point and shoot, which didn't do much more for the photos as they were taken through the window and into the direct sunlight. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use Max's SLR. Every time I try to learn, it's just too heavy for me to hold! But here are the photos I did manage to snap...

The bobcats seem to like the patio furniture. I think it's the bobcat equivalent to those indoor cat houses:

Cute lil' guy:

Check out those ears!

Posing:

Model pose:

And ready to play:

It was so sweet to watch them:

Until I realized that they were practicing pouncing. You know, for sneaking up and eating things. Should I be worried?

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Family Fun

Max and I have this theory that, although it almost never rains here in sunny Scottsdale, it always rains/is cold when we have visitors. It's like our company brings the weather. In fact, when we had the freak first-ever snow in December, it was when my college friend Jamie was visiting from Boston! Anyway, my dad and uncle gave us more evidence for our theory when they road tripped out a few weekends ago. It rained the first two days they were here : ( It did clear up to the typical blue sky after that so we could have some outdoor fun:

Thank you dad and Uncle Kevin for the visit! Come again soon!

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Happy March to Me : )

It's always tough to get bad news, but it's even more difficult when your spouse is out of the country. Yesterday I found out that my school district is adopting new rules this year, and my temporary teaching position can't be protected. That means it will be listed in this year's draft where anyone who has a permanent contract can snatch it up. There is a chance that no one will take it, but more than likely, in May I will have to pack up my third classroom in three years (third classroom and third different grade level no less!).

I am so lucky and so grateful to have been given two different jobs in Arizona (teaching jobs are hard to come by right now) so I really can't complain too much. I suppose I was a wee bit spoiled in California being able to stay in the same classroom and with the same grade level for four years. Still, the news got me down. After eating a whole bowl of brownie batter, I looked for something with less calories to cheer myself up and I found these:

They're iPhone cases from an Etsy seller named Dani Notes. I smiled just looking at them so I ordered one in a navy print with a kiwi green monogram. I already received my proof:

Cute, no? I love the way the monogram turned out - it's still so much fun seeing my married name. I can't wait for it to come! I'm feeling better already : )

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Wriggling Worms

I used to really not like eels. They look a lot like snakes - ew! They open and close their mouths over and over - kind of like they're about to bite something. And remember the eels in The Little Mermaid? They were evil!

When it came time to go SCUBA diving around eels, my sweet husband talked me out of being scared of them. He explained that the eels are just trying to get oxygen - which is why their mouths are always open. And the poor guys are almost blind! I felt a bit sorry for them after that and had no trouble diving with them. Not that it's okay to mess with them - we were on one dive where our dive master stuck his hand out in front of an eel and was bitten!

Anyway, my wonderful husband had to give me the same pep talk during our Wednesday morning phone call when I was bringing 27 earthworms into my classroom for my 27 first graders to observe. Yes, slimy, slippery, wriggling worms. We're studying habitats in first grade right now and worms are part of our "Underground" unit. I was totally creeped out by them. They come in weird styrofoam containers, and I kept imagining the worms breaking free. Ick! I was also very, very nervous about having to deal with the worms in front of the kids. Every time I thought about picking them up I would get the shudders. Anyway, my husband calmed me down and said that the worms were just like the eels - but the worms were actually blind! Poor little guys! He gave me just enough courage to put on my teacher face when it was time to bring them out : ) The kids were so excited! Most of them loved holding the worms:

A few were cautious at first:

And there was lots of screaming and shrieking as the worms started to crawl off the paper towels and even off the desks. I don't have photos of this part of course as I was doing damage control ; )

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What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving that it's March! Classroom decorations for March are so bright and happy : )

I'm loving this fabulous Pottery Barn chandelier:

I totally want to buy it for our formal dining room, which right now is just an empty room. Max thinks it's funny that I want a chandelier before a table. I think that he's being a boy.

I'm loving this:

Yes, Vanilla Ice is apparently into home improvement. When I saw the commercial for his new show, it was hard to take seriously - which made it a must-see of course. I've actually only watched one episode of the show; in it, Vanilla Ice redoes a garage "rockstar" style. He got bonus points from me for putting "Ice, Ice Baby" in the intro ; )

Finally, I'm loving my morning phone calls from my hubby! He's been phoning from England before I head to work each morning and it's such a wonderful way to start the day! It's a bit tricky to find a good time to chat since we're basically on opposite schedules but I love it when we can!

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Office Progress

Before Max headed off to the U.K., we made an Ikea trip for some new furniture for the office. Pepper was full of boxes:

Max put most of it together but I was the happy helper : )

It's so cute watching Max work. He's über methodical. When I tackle a project, I kind of just open things as I go. My husband thinks everything out. It must be the engineer in him : )

And here are the "Alex" drawers all put together:

Max will need them all for his, um, equipment. When we call the room the "office" it's a bit of a euphemism as the room will be more like a lab/equipment room. More pictures to come as Max moves in more of his things - which right now are taking up an entire other room!

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